Author Topic: Storyblocks - any signs of life? (Read 25989 times)

PZF · « **on:** May 05, 2019, 04:52 »

No downloads at all for weeks......

HalfFull · « **Reply #1 on:** May 05, 2019, 05:29 »

Quote from: PZF on May 05, 2019, 04:52

No downloads at all for weeks......

Same here... started off well but they're obviously not bothered about people making money in the Marketplace. I removed all my footage from them this week and I'll be removing all my images as well... just need one more image sale this month for payout then they'll all go.

That's the other thing that boils my P*ss with them. You could have $100 cleared funds on footage and $20 in images and they won't payout the image sales until they pass their own $25 limit. This of course makes it easier for them to hold onto money longer and make a stack of cash from all the interest. Very underhand.

Visualab · « **Reply #2 on:** May 05, 2019, 07:05 »

1 sale this month,used to have from 10 to 20....they have become unreliable...no worth anymore...

pkphotos · « **Reply #3 on:** May 05, 2019, 16:10 »

Almost everyone is reporting the same. I've had one sale this year compared to about 6 per month previously. Considering their promises of good things to come after the commission change, I wonder if they're feeling highly embarrassed by what's happened or if that was what they expected all along? At this stage they can only be viewed as a good bit of money while it lasted.

BalkanskiMacak · « **Reply #4 on:** May 05, 2019, 16:24 »

Having a portfolio that is something like 99% photos, I never got a single sale in almost two years... Funny thing: they keep on displaying a popup asking me if I would recommend Videoblocks...

Bart · « **Reply #5 on:** May 05, 2019, 21:02 »

Done uploading since March, no more! will wait another month or two (to see if sales return), otherwise time to pull the plug.

ccbcc · « **Reply #6 on:** May 06, 2019, 04:00 »

I will also pull the plug soon. I had a couple of sales a few months ago, just after I complained about something... That was strange.. But nothing since then.

thirdbornentertainment · « **Reply #7 on:** May 06, 2019, 04:16 »

Quote from: pkphotos on May 05, 2019, 16:10

Almost everyone is reporting the same. I've had one sale this year compared to about 6 per month previously. Considering their promises of good things to come after the commission change, I wonder if they're feeling highly embarrassed by what's happened or if that was what they expected all along? At this stage they can only be viewed as a good bit of money while it lasted.

Same here. Used to pull in 400/month and now not a sale since January. As long as their subscription plan isn't mandatory there is still hope.

helloitsme · « **Reply #8 on:** May 06, 2019, 06:09 »

I'll be closing the account sometime this year. I'll give it a few more months.

Trippy · « **Reply #9 on:** May 06, 2019, 06:33 »

Zero.

A shame. Storyblocks used to be a good earner.

bestravelvideo · « **Reply #10 on:** May 06, 2019, 06:42 »

They informed me they would close my account in a month, with a mention they would help me with suggestions to avoid that.
Since I had zero sales for months, I responded they should not wait and get over with it immediatelly!
That was the first time they acted fast and they deleted all my assets in a couple of days, although I am still waiting for the relative email to confirm that!
Now, as I was telling other stock friends, I feel as relieved as if I was going to break up with a girlfriend I knew I was never going to be forever with but was just postponing for a last night with her, to ... kiss her goodbye!

Mantis · « **Reply #11 on:** May 06, 2019, 07:57 »

Quote from: bestravelvideo on May 06, 2019, 06:42

They informed me they would close my account in a month, with a mention they would help me with suggestions to avoid that.
Since I had zero sales for months, I responded they should not wait and get over with it immediatelly!
That was the first time they acted fast and they deleted all my assets in a couple of days, although I am still waiting for the relative email to confirm that!
Now, as I was telling other stock friends, I feel as relieved as if I was going to break up with a girlfriend I knew I was never going to be forever with but was just postponing for a last night with her, to ... kiss her goodbye!

I deleted all of my content there manually then asked them to close my account. I got a long email explaining that they know it's been slow, blah blah blah but they really never mentioned my statement to them about how the subscription plan killed our sales. They wanted me to hang on but I had already deleted my port and they finally closed my account. I had 1,500 videos there. Had one sale in Jan then nothing since. My email to them was pretty blunt, how they came in MSG seeking contributors and being all "we are your partner" and now cutting commissions and them effectively killing sales. Anyhow, I am out as of a couple of weeks ago.

bestravelvideo · « **Reply #12 on:** May 06, 2019, 10:56 »

They also always avoided to answer all my questions, making communication problematic. In the past I had to ask again and again, even numbering questions, but they just responded what they wanted. Regardless If their answers would satisfy me or not, they just seemed to say what they wanted, like one talks and the other never listens but only waits to speak his part. That was not good communication. They also asked me to update my tax info and that took them months to do. Was that their way of thinking I would be upset and give up earlier, who knows? They also said they would let me know if they deleted my assets but never wrote back. Even now, at the end, that is bad communication. Instead, without me being informed, I am logged out and can't enter my account. They also never offered any suggestions for sales increase and when I asked how do they judge unique or similar clips or quality, they never reponded. I should add here that I work as a professional video editor in Broadcast TV for more than 25 years, from the era of Betacam, when we just dropped U-Matic and then started using Betacam tapes with external video vectorscopes and jogs on Sony BVW or PVW videos, so you guess that at least my clips were Broadcast safe! At least on some local or European events my clips were not widely offered on stotck agencies, yet they failed to sell by the numbers on them, plus living in Greece, I had a 30 % tax deduction, without them ever providing details about the country of sales. I had to insist for months that they wrongly did that on my photo sales and at the end they accepted it.

trucic · « **Reply #13 on:** May 09, 2019, 02:39 »

... no. 1 agency to be avoided... promising start, lasted a while and then went totally to subscription model... with their `answer-avoiding` policy even for banal questions...

georgep7 · « **Reply #14 on:** May 09, 2019, 03:52 »

Quote

from the era of Betacam

guess who repaired those after Nikos left at (eastern side of the city) Sony center?

well, just repaired pro & broadcast, not charging prices

Small world!

bestravelvideo · « **Reply #15 on:** May 09, 2019, 04:07 »

Hi georgep7!
You mean these?
Let's see if younger ones know what a BETACAM SP is! This one is actually broken!

(Not going to be used for stock anyway!)

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #16 on:** May 09, 2019, 04:26 »

Quote from: trucic on May 09, 2019, 02:39

...and then went totally to subscription model.

How do you mean?

georgep7 · « **Reply #17 on:** May 09, 2019, 04:50 »

Quote from: bestravelvideo on May 09, 2019, 04:07

Hi georgep7!
You mean these?
Let's see if younger ones know what a BETACAM SP is! This one is actually broken!

(Not going to be used for stock anyway!)

From portable Umatic to those (PVW? Don't remember!) to UVW beta to medical SVHS white ones and NTSC printers since the glorious DVcam days. Electronics, "backs" combinations, mechanisms, lenses, high end (at the time) consoles and all this beauty of human engineering! Loved jog shuttles, loved video but took me years to learn to edit until premiere CS3 arrived.

Still look as beautiful equipment to my eyes, working or not. People see buttons and lights but you know well, better than me that those devices served well. But why not for stock? I regret that I didn't shoot more studio equipment related stock when I had the chance and clearance.

trucic · « **Reply #18 on:** May 09, 2019, 05:29 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 09, 2019, 04:26

Quote from: trucic on May 09, 2019, 02:39
...and then went totally to subscription model.

How do you mean?

... by sales... ups, NO Marketplace sales...

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #19 on:** May 09, 2019, 09:24 »

Yeah, I completely agree.... sales are now like the occasional tumbleweed rolling along a deserted town. Just that "went totally to subscription model" doesn't sound like you were commenting on the sales, like you were commenting on some change to the business that (for example) shutdown the marketplace. I mean they may have well as, as that's what it feels like from the amount of sales these days, but the marketplace still exists and sales can/do happen.

trucic · « **Reply #20 on:** May 09, 2019, 13:31 »

... yes, they do happen - occasionally...

thirdbornentertainment · « **Reply #21 on:** May 10, 2019, 01:16 »

Thanks to John at Crafted Stock for sounding that last alarm regarding the sub model. Who would have guessed that paying out 80 to 100% commissions wasn't a sustainable business model? LMFAO!

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #22 on:** May 10, 2019, 07:24 »

VUSschneider · « **Reply #23 on:** May 13, 2019, 09:38 »

Same here. Only 1-2 Sales / month left. I think there is no future after they changed.

everest · « **Reply #24 on:** May 14, 2019, 13:23 »

Unfortunately no sales there anymore. I wrote them a few weeks ago that I will no longer supply new files as it is a waste of time. They totally crumbled as a revenue option for stock footage.

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Author Topic: Storyblocks - any signs of life? (Read 25989 times)

PZF

HalfFull

Visualab

pkphotos

BalkanskiMacak

Bart

ccbcc

thirdbornentertainment

helloitsme

Trippy

bestravelvideo

Mantis

bestravelvideo

trucic

georgep7

bestravelvideo

SpaceStockFootage

georgep7

trucic

SpaceStockFootage

trucic

thirdbornentertainment

SpaceStockFootage

VUSschneider

everest

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